FTSE 100 Competition Results Week 5
Michael Riddell retains his lead
Seventy of the FTSE 100 shares made gains this week but there were also some spectacular losses as well. The index moved from 6483 to end the week at 6631.
In company news, the London Stock Exchange Group plunged in value after it said it expects higher operating costs in the new financial year. On Friday saw its shares slide by 1,364p to 8,124p at the close of trading, down 18.4% on the week.
A sharp decline in Tesla’s share price wiped more than $250bn (£193bn) off the value of the electric car company, and dragged down the value of one of Tesla’s biggest backers, Edinburgh-based investment fund Scottish Mortgage Investment (-11.6% on the week).
Other major sliders this week were Just Eat down 8.3% and JD Sports down 6.4%.
On the positive side oil prices and the Chancellor’s budget were beneficial for some. The price of oil soared to a 14-month high after Opec maintained its existing output levels despite chatter about a potential rise. The price of Brent crude oil increased by 3.21% to 68.88 dollars per barrel and BP shares gained 8.5%.
Wednesday’s budget resulted in a bumper week for house builders' share prices. Mr Sunak confirmed that the government would extend a stamp duty holiday for people buying homes and reintroduce government-backed mortgages for people with only a 5 per cent deposit.
Developers have benefited from previous rounds of government subsidy for the UK's booming housing market and Persimmon’s 10.9% gain on the week was only bettered by BT’s 12.7% gain. Builders Taylor Woodrow and Barratt Developments also showed good gains.
BT jumped higher after both Credit Suisse and Barclays upped their target prices for the telecoms giant.
In our competition Michael and Gavin Riddell remain first and second with gains of £6008 and £5583 since our start date. Lewis Grieve has jumped above ScotMac9 to take over in third with a profit so far of £4694.
Biggest mover of the week was Keith Davison up 33 places after a 5.7% increase on the week. James Grieve also soared 31 places. Ian Grieve was the winner of the week with a 5.8% gain and Liz P also made a 5.2% profit.
Greatest slider this week was Front Runner down 29 places. Nil Pettigrew continues to hold up the rest, a 5.9% drop making the ongoing loss £9475! Sammy’s Granny now second bottom with a loss of £7828 principally caused by maximum holdings in Scottish Mortgage. Malcom Hemingway was down 4.8% on the week and Jean Spriddle -3.7%.
With AstraZeneca being the most popular choice and a major investment in pharmaceutical shares, many of our entrants experienced losses between 1% and 2.5% this week. Going forward one has to believe that this sector’s time will come!
